An answered prayer

Matt has been SO busy lately and it's not only hard on the kids and I when he's not around, it's also hard on him. We were talking last Sunday night about this and Matt was really feeling like he wasn't spending enough time with Wyatt but didn't see how the situation would be changing anytime soon. Neither of us had any great answers to the dilemma but knew we needed to pray about it. This has been the theme in our lives lately--not much we can do about present situations but pray. And as a friend reminded me, prayer is more powerful than anything else we can do on our own.
Matt called me the next day (Monday) from work and said, "You'll never guess what I got? A guy at work has 2 tickets to the BlueJackets (NHL team) game tomorrow night and can't go. I think I'm going to bring them home and surprise Wyatt."
Matt walked in the door and handed them to Wyatt and his eyes just lit up. He knew exactly what they were--tickets to his first NHL game. He was so excited that he woke up at 5:30am the next morning and told everyone we saw during the day that he was going with his Daddy to see the BlueJackets.

They got there early to watch warm-ups and Matt said Wyatt wanted to find their seats first. The place was empty--they could have gone anywhere--and Wyatt wanted to sit in his own seat.

They had great seats and Wyatt came home so excited! And thankfully, the BlueJackets did win!

It was such a fun night for Matt and Wyatt, but more importantly it was such an answer to prayer for Matt and I. And there have been so many other answered prayers in our life lately--some big some small. But no matter what the circumstances, it has been a great reminder to Matt and I that God is in control of all things. And for this we are so thankful!!

The Perfect Day

Last Saturday was a perfect day for me. We spent the entire day together as a family--Matt didn't have to work and opted not to work on his research or job-searching for the day, neither of us worked out, no running errands for me--an entire day just the four of us. I truly can't remember the last time this happened. Matt always has work to do--research, rounding on patients, being on call, or reading journals and if he can be home for a few hours, I often like to try and go for a run or get some errands done. But last Saturday we did none of that and it was amazing! (Now I just wish it could happen more often!)
So we headed to the pumpkin patch. We have gone to the pumpkin patch together every year since Wyatt was born and have had so much fun. I apologize for the amount of pictures on here. I actually only posted about 1/10 of the amount I took, but it's still a lot! Everything is just so beautiful in the fall.

This is seriously one of the best pictures of my two favorite guys. Wyatt seems to have gotten past the cheesy smile (most of the time).

Can you believe the size of the pumpkins the kids are sitting on??

The kids checking out the animals--I think these were the roosters.

The kids loved having Matt around. Sadie is definitely a Daddy's girl and will ask for Daddy many times instead of me, which I love!

The 'little people' straw maze. The kids thought this was so great because we couldn't come in with them and they were 'off on their own'. Wyatt was a great big brother and lead Sadie through and helped her find her way out.

One of the coolest things they had were these slides inside a barn filled with bales of straw. The kids loved it--they slide right into a pile of straw and had so much fun trying to walk around inside.

Sadie even went down on her own--this girl has no fear. She wants to do everything her brother does and sometimes, she'll try something first and then Wyatt will do it.

Wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch--we've always picked our own pumpkins and it's a tradition I love--plus it's so beautiful to be in a pumpkin patch.

Wyatt took off and started grabbing all kinds of pumpkins. Pretty strong little guy! And no photoshop here--the sky really was this amazing.

Matt headed further out into the patch to find the 'best' pumpkins.

The boys heading back to the wagon with our pumpkins.

Our pumpkins--Matt always tried to find the ones with the coolest stems and I think he was successful this year. And I loved that Wyatt had to keep his hand on the pumpkins so that no one would take them.

Back inside the barn

Warning: Lots of pictures of pumpkins! I just couldn't get over the beauty. The green gourds at the bottom of this picture are called "apple gourds" because they look just like giant apples.

Wyatt sharing his fresh pumpkin donut with his sister.

Not a great picture of Matt and Sadie, but the colors were amazing!

It was an amazing day! We came home, had some lunch and the kids took naps, and then went to the park and just spent time together as a family. Truly a perfect day--and something you really appreciate when it doesn't happen very often!

Update on the car situation

Many of you have asked us what is going on with our car situation and we appreciate that so many of you have been thinking of us. Our first week without a second car was actually not too terrible. The weather was still really nice out and the kids and I were able to be outside a lot. As we were about to enter our 2nd week, friends of ours from church were leaving for vacation in Italy for 2 1/2 weeks and offered us their car while they were out of town. What a blessing that was and a huge answer to prayer! Thanks Brodie and Julie!!
But they decided they would still like to live in Ohio as opposed to Italy, so we had to give their car back earlier this week. We are taking it day by day as that's all we can do. The weather is getting cooler outside, so we have spent much more time inside which does make things more difficult, especially when Matt is often gone from 5:30am until 9pm. Makes for long days for myself especially!
Matt leaves for a conference tomorrow in Naples, FL for the weekend, so the positive side is that at least the kids and I will have a car while he is gone. (Not that we want him to leave, but you've got to see the silver lining, right?) Then he's back here for 3 days and then leaves again for an interview--which means we'll have the car again for 2 days. It's amazing how the little things in life begin to mean so much.
So now that we are really living with one car, I'm sure I'll have more things to post. I've been trying to figure out the bus schedule--not an easy thing to do---and Wyatt asks everyday when we'll get to ride the 'citybus', as he calls it. This is another blessing in all of this--the kids haven't really had any negative reactions to this and are just excited to do things like riding the city bus.
Above all, we are really relying on the Lord to provide, as we know He always has and always will.

The pictures speak for themselves.....

What Wyatt picked up when asked to find the most beautiful leaves...pretty good!!

Auntie Cam is here!!!

For days prior to her arrival, Wyatt and Sadie were saying, "Auntie Cam, Auntie Cam". And last Thursday, she finally arrived. The kids ran through the airport and were so excited to see her and we had a great time while she was here. Of course, she came bearing gifts for the kids and Wyatt immediately said, "Cammie, what did you bring me?" We'll have to work on that one--and also work on the amount of candy and gum Wyatt was allowed to have while Auntie Cam was here.

Cammie and Wyatt watching the trains outside Easton Mall

Out for lunch in all our Wisconsin gear!!

Do you think they were having fun?




Sadie can find a wallet in a haystack--she's like a magnet to wallets!! And she meticulously takes each item out and examines it.
Cammie, you look just as excited as Sadie!!


Sadie found a chair just her size to watch football!

After church on sunday, Matt had to go into his office and do some work, so Cammie and the kids and I went to this beautiful old farmland to hang out and take some pictures. I discovered it just last week when Sadie had her 18mos. checkup and I had packed a lunch since I knew the kids would be hungry afterwards. I had been driving around looking for a park and stumbled across this beautiful old barn, farmhouse, pond, and surrounding buildings. It looks like it's been restored quite a bit and is probably used for weddings and receptions, but I was thrilled to be able to go back and try and take some pictures. Of course, whenever I plan on taking pictures, the opportunities don't present themselves and this day was no different. The kids were getting tired and hungry, so I'm sure we will be returning soon. But we had a great time showing Cammie around and spending a few more hours with her before she had to leave.

Sadie has taken after Wyatt with the cheesy smile! And the poor girl had a few mosquito bites including one right on the end of her nose--notice the redness!

Wyatt trying to get Sadie to smile....it just wasn't going to happen.
Cam tried to help me get some pictures and told the kids that somebody was inside the house. When that didn't spark their interest, she told them that maybe Papa was in there. So for the next several minutes, Sadie kept looking towards the door saying, "Papa? Papa?"

This picture turned out since you can't see anyones faces! By this point everyone was hungry and tired and ready to go.
We had such a great time having Cammie here and a long weekend just wasn't enough. Wyatt woke up from his nap on Sunday and asked, "Where is Cammie?" And even after explaining that she had gone home to Wisconsin in the airplane, we got the same questions Monday morning when they woke up and wanted to go wakeup Auntie Cam. We loved having her here and can't wait for her to come back.